Post Quiz - December: A Month to Remember – Answers
Created | Updated Dec 17, 2017
Ah, 1642: I remember it well.
December: A Month to Remember – Answers
Short answers for you, and some information.
- Why is 1 December 1918 an important day for Iceland?
It got its independence from Denmark. Til hamingju! - Why would the world remember what Enrico Fermi did on 2 December 1942?
He and his coworkers set off the world's first nuclear chain reaction at the University of Chicago. Chicago is still there. - What significant first happened in Cape Town, South Africa, on 3 December 1967?
Dr. Christiaan Barnard performed the first successful heart transplant. The patient, Louis Washkansky, lived for 18 more days. - What important step did the US Congress take on 6 December 1865?
Amended the US Constitution (13th Amendment) to ban slavery. Finally. - Why is 7 December 1942 'a date which will live in infamy'?
Imperial Japanese forces attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, beginning US involvement in the Second World War. - What infamous thing happened in London on 8 December 1940?
The Luftwaffe attacked London, damaging the Houses of Parliament and the Tower. - What important communications breakthrough took place on 11 December 1901?
The first transatlantic radio signal, sent by Guglielmo Marconi from Cornwall to St. John's, Newfoundland. - Why is 13 December 1642 an important date in New Zealand?
Abel Tasman of the Dutch East India Company discovered New Zealand on this date. - What act of cosplay terrorism occurred in Boston on 16 December 1773?
The Boston Tea Party. (They dressed up like Indians, which fooled absolutely nobody. The harbour smelled like Earl Grey for a week.) - What landmark medical breakthrough took place at a London hospital on 21 December 1846?
Robert Liston performed an amputation (on a servant, so we don't have the name, no comment) using anesthesia. Apparently, Liston was quite a character – think Dr House with a Scots accent. He was known to be able to amputate a limb in two-and-a-half-minutes, a weird but impressive skill. His comment on anesthesia was, 'This Yankee dodge beats mesmerism hollow.' You might admire him as a doctor, but you wouldn't want him in your living room.
History has a lot to answer for.
